Are you a graduating high school senior who has put your mark on the neighborhood with your volunteer efforts? Perhaps you worked to clean up Reedy Creek, judged the annual Halloween Howl, or delivered the Forest Hill Flyer on your street. Maybe you volunteered at the Westover Hills Library, set up bluebird boxes, or helped your elderly neighbor by taking his supercan to the curb each week.

If you have been serving your community in those ways, or in any others, your efforts have made you eligible for the fourth annual Forest Hill Neighborhood Association Community Service Scholarship.

“This neighborhood has a long history of residents who are committed to scholarship and volunteering,” says FHNA President Whit Clements. “Those two traits help to make this such a wonderful place to live. The goal of the scholarship is to reward and encourage these traits in the young people of the neighborhood. Allowing them to spread the enjoyment of education and helping others to different areas of the world or where ever their educational adventures may lead them.”

The annual scholarship is an award of $500 presented to a graduating senior who lives in the Forest Hill neighborhood and who plans to attend college or a post-secondary institution. The selection process is based on an application; original answers to essay questions, including details and documentation of service to the community; a letter of recommendation from a non-relative who knows the applicant and is familiar with his or her service to the community; and a copy of a letter of acceptance from the college the applicant plans to attend. Once awarded, the scholarship may be used for any college-related necessities.

The scholarship deadline is July 1 each year. All materials must be postmarked by that date. The money will be awarded to the scholarship recipient by the FHNA during the August membership meeting. The selection committee will be determined every year and will consist of between three and five members of the FHNA executive board. The decision of the selection committee is final.

If you are interested in the Forest Hill Neighborhood Association Community Service Scholarship, the application can be printed from the FHNA website: www.foresthillneighborhood.com or clicking here. If you would like to receive a printed copy of the application in the mail, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: FHNA Community Service Scholarship Committee, PO Box 13201, Richmond, VA 23225. We will send an application back to you. For any other questions, contact foresthillflyer@gmail.com